When You Know: Journey to the One
by Jaiaelle
Summary: Artie's dad outlines how you know.  Written for the Quartie fication.


_Author's Note: Written for the Quartie ficathon. Thanks to Carli, Megan and a specific episode of Hanging with Mr. Cooper for help with this story. :) Feedback is always appreciated!_

**_When You Know: Journey to the One_**

Late one afternoon, Artie was doing his homework in the kitchen, while his dad, Cary, cooked dinner and hummed a Bob Dylan song, when he threw his pencil down in frustration.

Turning from the stove, the elder Abrams arched an eyebrow. "Problems?" Lowering the heat on the burner, he strode over and sat down in the chair opposite his son. "Is that math? Maybe I can help?"

Sighing, Artie pushed the paper to his left and said, "No, it's not…I mean, yeah, it's math but that's not the problem. Lately, things with Brittany have been…okay but...I feel like...I'm not sure. I mean, I like her and she can be really cute sometimes but then I wonder, is she the one? I don't think she is."

Clasping his hands together on the table, Cary thought for a long time before carefully phrasing his words. "Well, Artie, figuring out who that right person for you is can be difficult but, lucky for you, you're young and don't have to think about it. You have a good thing with Brittany and, no, she's probably not the one for you but you're seventeen. You have plenty of time to figure out who your one is."

Leaning back a little, Artie contemplated what his dad had said then exploded, "Just because I'm seventeen doesn't mean I can't find the one!" Immediately calming himself, Artie went on, "I don't mean to get upset, Dad, it's just…what if she, my one, is already in my life and I'm too busy wasting time with someone who is clearly _not_ the one for me?"

Twisting his lips, Cary again hesitated. Having a teenaged son could be difficult sometimes and had taught the forty year old a lot about patience. "Well, Artie, there's not an easy answer to that. But, since you're asking, let me tell how I knew with your mom."

Nodding, Artie waited quietly for his dad to continue.

Once he was sure there wouldn't be an outburst this time, Cary shared with Artie, to the best of his ability, how he _knew_. "This is really difficult to explain, since it's mostly different for everyone, but, looking back, your mom being the one for me became clear due to several factors." Realizing his mode of speech was reverting to "work-speak" and, thus, becoming too formal, Cary cleared his throat and attempted to "de-formalize" what he was saying. "She could and can often tell what I was and am thinking, without me having to tell her. And I could and can often do the same for her. She knows how to make me feel better when I'm feeling upset about something, in a way that no one else can. She makes me…weak in the knees, so the expression goes. You know, get that…unexplainable feeling in my stomach."

"Like butterflies?" Artie interjected.

"Something like that," Cary said. "What else…okay, it seems I can't go anywhere without something reminding me of your mom. I'm always trying to think of ways to make her happy and she does the same for me. There's a level of comfort we have with each other that we never had with anyone else and we are each other's number one confidant. And this last one, well, I thought it was more like a fairy tale until it happened to me. My Uncle Wally used to always say that you know a girl is the right one for you when she walks into a room and everything else disappears. About six months after your mom and I started dating, we were counselors at this summer camp. I was at one side of the mess hall, one evening during dinner, and your mom walked in. When I saw her, it was like everything just faded away. Up to the point, all those other things had been true but that was the clincher. That's how I knew."

Although Cary had expected some kind of response, Artie remained completely silent, lost in thought, so Cary stood and resumed his cooking.

Once dinner was through, Artie wrote down everything his dad had said, in the journal that he rarely used and was mostly filled with cheat codes for games, then pushed them all out of his mind and completely forgot about them.

**_The Thought That Counts_**

As Mr. Schuester talked about the car accident his ex-wife had been in, Artie found himself involuntarily clenching his hands into fists, recalling the day that he had lost the use of his legs. Other than that, he didn't let himself react. Next to him, Brittany seemed completely unaware of his inner turmoil, as she played thumb war, a game Artie had taught her, with herself. He was reminded of the previous year, though the situations were much different, when he had been hurting about Tina choosing Mike and someone had rubbed his back. That same someone was sitting next to him, on his other side, and she reached over, rubbing his forearm.

Sending a small, sad smile Quinn's way, Artie placed his other hand on top of hers, squeezing gently.

When Mr. Schuester mentioned that they could visit Terri in the hospital if they wanted, the corners of Quinn's mouth turned down, ever so slightly. Having more than an idea what was running through her mind, he leaned towards her and whispered, "Can I go with you?"

Returning his squeeze, belatedly, she replied, just as softly, "I'd like that."

_**Way You Make Me Feel**_

It was the anniversary of the accident and all Artie wanted to do was stay in bed for the whole day and not face the world. The previous year, Tina had forced him to "have fun" on the anniversary but that had only made him more depressed. He wondered what the day would have been like had he still been with Brittany. He was fairly certain that, as with Tina, he would've had to get out of bed. It crossed his mind that Quinn, who was coming over soon to work on a song mash up, might insist that he leave his darkened room, especially once she learned why he was holed up.

Why had he agreed to let her come over on this day of all days?

When she didn't show up at three, as she was supposed to, Artie checked his phone. Apparently, he had missed a text message. Opening it, he found himself staring at one of those lolcatz things. Grinning, he sent a message back, asking if she was going to come over.

"I would but…I'm sort of stuck on this lolcatz site and I think I'm going to spam you with pics I like. ;)"

Later, he found out that his mom had revealed the importance of the date to Quinn and she had opted to reschedule, telling Mrs. Abrams she would call Artie later. He was kind of glad and, anyway, the 100 texts of lolcatz pictures had made him feel much better than anything else could have.

**_Butterflies and Flutterbys_**

On the Fourth of July, Rachel had what she referred to as a "mandatory celebration of this nation's independence" gathering. Despite the initial forced feeling of the party, most of the glee club members showed up, including Mr. Schuester and his once estranged wife, who was clinging to his arm with a somewhat dopey expression on her face. Word had it that she would never be the same, that the impact of her head on the steering wheel had done more damage then the doctor's had first thought. Word also had it that her and the glee club teacher had started dating again, which showing up to the party together seemed to confirm.

Artie hadn't been there long when he saw Quinn approaching him. The two of them had hung out a couple of times, since her break up with Sam, discovering that they actually had quite a bit in common. Usually, when they hung out at his house, she wore casual summer attire and Artie had grown used to seeing her in tank tops and shorts, but that warm July afternoon she was wearing a loose fitting white summer dress. As she floated toward him, a weird sensation began in his stomach. He wasn't oblivious to the butterflies in his stomach but he wasn't sure why they had chosen that moment to appear.

They didn't fly away for the rest of the evening either.

_**Think of You**_

At the end of every summer, Artie's mom, Lilly, insisted on taking her son shopping for new school clothes. This year, he had made sure his mom knew it was the last time the yearly trip would be taking place. When she started to cry, he had a feeling that he would end up going the following year, once again, this time to buy clothes for college.

Inside the department store, Artie followed his mom around, as she selected items off the rack and handed them to him.

"Mom," he whined. "I can pick out my own clothes."

Giving him the dreaded look that she usually saved for his dad when his dad was at his most ridiculous, Lilly asked, "And what would you pick out for yourself?"

Sorting through the clothes she had given to him, he realized he would have chosen all of them if given the option. "Uh…" He stopped when he came to a red sweater decorated with some type of green plant. "Hey, this reminds me of…" Trailing off, his mind wandered to Quinn, who had recently started a small flower garden in her backyard.

Shrugging, as Artie lapsed into silence, Lilly went back to shopping, Artie eventually following her.

At lunch in the food court, the Chinese food made him think of Quinn and their now shared ritual of opening fortune cookies together.

When they drove him, the sunlight glinting off the hood of his mom's car brought Quinn's hair to mind, as he liked to tell her that her hair was the color of sunshine.

And when they got home, the picture of the two of them at Rachel's Fourth of July barbeque definitely made him think of her.

_**You Make Me Happy**_

In five days, Artie would be turning eighteen. He wasn't sure if he cared all that much. Turning eighteen meant he could vote, which he did give some importance to, and that he could enlist in the military, which was not going to happen. His plans for the evening of this eighteenth consisted of having Quinn over so they could watch that movie she had been pestering him about.

("You haven't seen _Say Anything_? How is this possible? How can you even consider yourself a true fan of John Cusack -"

"I never said I was true fan of John Cusack-"

"If you have never seen that movie? Seriously, Artie. First_ The Breakfast Club_ and now this? Next you'll be telling me you haven't seen like…I don't know, the _Back to the Future_ Trilogy."

"Um…"

"Artie!")

When she had questioned why he had decided that they should do that, instead of having a party with all their friends, he had told her he didn't see what the big deal was and would rather just have a night in with her. But the true answer was that he just wanted to make her happy and he knew that him finally viewing _Say Anything_ would do that.

At 7:00 when the entire glee club arrived, with a cake and a pizza and extra people, Artie was more than just a little disappointed. At 7:45, Quinn found him in his room.

"Sorry for inviting all these people over. I was trying to make you happy…"

Pulling her into his laps, he stared into her hazel eyes for several long minutes, then tucked a few stands of hair behind her ear. "I know. Thank you for trying to make me happy. You know what makes me happiest?"

"What's that?" she asked, absent mindedly skimming her fingers down his arm, to his knuckles, where she let them lightly rest.

"Making you happy."

"That's funny," she responded. "Because the thing that makes me happiest is making you -"

He knew what she was going to say so, even though the last word hadn't yet made it past her lips, he cut her off by pressing his lips to her.

They didn't leave his room for a long time.

_**Comfortable in My Own Skin**_

On certain Saturday mornings, Quinn liked to come over, wearing her sweats, hair in a messy ponytail, without make up on, and fix Artie breakfast. Instead of getting dressed, like he normally would have, had it been anyone else, he wore his boxers and a t-shirt, watching her scramble eggs or flip pancakes or grill bacon. Quinn was the first person, not including his parents, around whom he actually felt comfortable enough to not care that his legs were exposed. It wasn't like other people hadn't seen them but he always felt embarrassed of how white and scrawny he believed them to be. Though at first, even with Quinn, he had hid his legs as much as possible, he had grown not to care at all, just as she had grown not to care if he saw her sans make up.

That Saturday morning, Quinn made French toast with praline spread and raspberry syrup. She had found the recipe on some website and insisted she just had to make it. On the side was bacon and orange slices. While sitting on the couch, watching Rush Hour and eating the breakfast, Artie poked Quinn.

"You look extra hot today."

Nudging him with her shoulder, she quipped, "You're about to catch on fire you're so hot."

"Dork."

"Am not."

"Are too. And you really spoil me with these breakfasts."

"You're my guinea pig. I test out new recipes on you."

"Well, they are always good and now I'm stuffed. I want to lay down."

Grabbing his legs, she layed them out on to the couch, then stretched out beside him, resting her face against his chest, her hair tickling his chin. "Now you're laying down."

Circling his arms around her, he just grinned.

_**Tell You Anything**_

"He's getting married," Quinn kept repeating over and over. "Married!"

Grasping her hands in his, so that would stop pacing, Artie said, slowly and carefully, "I know, Quinn."

Settling herself in his lap, she whispered, "Married. My dad is getting…married. I just...don't even know what to think."

"I know, Quinn." It was all he seemed to be able to say.

"I've never told anyone this but I always hoped that him and mom would get remarried. Him marrying this…other woman…means that will never happen." She let out a defeated sigh and touched her forehead to his shoulder. "It's not fair."

"I know, Quinn. I…know." Swallowing, he ran a through her silky hair. "After the accident, things were really hard. My dad left my mom for a couple of months. He actually hired a divorce lawyer and everything."

With a slight gasp, Quinn pulled back, doubt in her eyes. "Your dad?"

"Yeah…I was dealing with…well, you know and then that on top of it. I remember praying that if they got divorced, they would later get remarried. And then dad got some sense knocked into him by grandpa and he came back home. I've, uh…never talked to anyone about that."

Blinking several times, Quinn nodded, then returned her head to it's place on her shoulder. "Thank you for sharing."

"I know our situations are different, Quinn but-"

"I'm glad you told me. Somehow, it makes me feel better."

As she tucked herself against him, he smiled and kissed her temple. "I love you." He hadn't meant to say it then, though he had felt it for awhile.

Grazing her fingers across the material of his shirt, she said, almost casually but, at the same, not at all, "I love you too."

_**Only Have Eyes For You**_

Graduation had finally arrived.

All Artie could think about was getting out of McKinley High and getting out of Lima, with his girl by his side. When he rolled across the stage, she was the first person he looked at, spinning his chair around so he could see her face. Once they made eye contact, he waved the diploma, laughing as he did so. She laughed too, giving a slight shake of her head as she did so.

Twenty minutes later, twenty minutes because Rachel had to give an almost ten minute thank you/end of her high school career/here I come New York speech, Quinn's name was called. Just as Artie had done, she turned, eyes immediately meeting his.

And that's when it happened…

Everything and everyone else faded away. All the people in the stands watching, all the other students graduating, all the noise… It was only her on the stage, robe billowing out around her, glowing hazel eyes focused in his direction.

…that's when he knew.


End file.
